Lakota People's Law Project

Since 2006, Daniel Sheehan has served as the lead attorney and general counsel for the Lakota People’s Law Project (LPLP). Much of LPLP's work has been in South Dakota to stop violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and rescue Lakota children from an abusive state care system.

In 2016, LPLP began organizing around the Dakota Access Pipeline. Our Lakota staff were on the ground at Oceti Sakowin camp from its inception in April 2016 to the final days in February, 2017. Daniel then represented Chase Iron Eyes who faced felony incitement to riot charges related to the #NoDAPL movement. The felony charges were dropped, preventing the use of both necessity and treaty defenses in the case.

Daniel Sheehan's Memoir Published by Counterpoint Press

The Peoples Advocate, the autobiography of American Constitutional Trial Attorney Daniel Sheehan, is now available through our online store! Sheehan traces his personal journey from his working-class roots through Harvard Law School and his initial career in private practice. His early disenchantment led to his return for further study at Harvard Divinity School, and rethinking the nature of his career. Eventually his role as President and Chief Trial Counselor for the famous Washington, DC-based Christic Institute would help define his role as America's preeminent cause lawyer.

In The Peoples Advocate, Sheehan details “the inside story” of over a dozen historically significant American legal cases of the 20th Century, all of which he litigated. The remarkable cases covered in the book include both The Pentagon Papers Case in 1971 and The Watergate Burglary Case in 1973. In addition, Sheehan served as the Chief Attorney on The Karen Silkwood Case in 1976, which revealed the CIA's Israeli Desk had been smuggling 98% bomb-grade plutonium to the State of Israel and to Iran. In 1984, he was the Chief Trial Counsel on The American Sanctuary Movement Case, establishing the right of American church workers to provide assistance to Central American political refugees fleeing Guatemalan and Salvadorian “death squads.” His involvement with the sanctuary movement ultimately led to Sheehan's famous Iran/Contra Federal Civil Racketeering Case against the Reagan/Bush Administration, which he investigated, initiated, filed, and then litigated. The resulting “Iran/Contra Scandal” nearly brought down that Administration, leading Congress to consider the impeachment of over a dozen of the top-ranking officials of the Reagan/Bush Administration.

The Peoples Advocate is the “real story” of these and many other historic American cases, told from the unique point of view of a central lawyer.

U.S. in the Middle East

Following Danny's interview on Coast to Coast AM, we are putting together a series of info-graphics and videos to dig further into the United States' role in past and current crises in the Middle East. Click here to learn more!

"Obviously, Dan Sheehan’s unique background makes him an expert on the political and legal history of our nation. But what makes him a one-of-a-kind educator is his ability to present that material within a compelling philosophical and ethical frame."